My Brethren, be strong in the LORD and in the power of HIS might. Put on the whole armor of GOD, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkenss of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of GOD, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the SPIRIT, which is the WORD of GOD; praying always with all supplication in the SPIRIT, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

In the verses above you see that Paul uses the roman soldier analogy, because he wants us to see that we are in a battle...a spiritual battle. My husband is in the ARMY and if he goes into battle, he has been trained to wear his battle gear to protect himself from harm and the possibility of death. GOD too, wants us to be trained to protect ourselves from spiritual warfare. We are battling some pretty nasty wicked beings. (If you notice it says that our war is not with flesh and blood= not with humans) They want us to fall for lies, self destruction, and most of all to keep us from telling others about what JESUS has done for us. This spiritual battle will continue until the day JESUS comes back for HIS people, so Paul tells us about our armor. Notice that Paul says in verses 11 and again in 13 to put on the “Whole" armor of GOD, giving the impression that it is possible to go into battle partially protected. It is important to understand what the armor pieces are, and how to apply them. The armor piece's (breastplate, sword,shield etc., are physical and we are dealing with the spiritual) should not be focused on, but focus on and apply to our lives those things that GOD says will protect us. What are they? The first is TRUTH. WE should apply TRUTH to our lives. "TRUTH" being of nothing false. GOD wants us to be honest and true to HIM, to man, and in all we do, think and say. The Ninth commandment found in Exodus 20:16 says, that we should not bear false witness.(We should not lie) Lev. 19:11 says, Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie, Ps. 119:163 says, I hate and abhor lying, Proverbs 12:22 says, Lying lips are abomination to the Lord, and John 8:44 says, The devil is a liar and the father of lies. If the devil is the father of lies, to battle him, we should put on TRUTH!The second armor piece, "RIGHTEOUSNESS" will be in part two of this article.